1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clamp for retaining a pipe, cord, cable or operational or functional rod (hereinafter referred to collectively as an elongated body) at an axially central portion thereof and, more particularly, to such a clamp which is capable of clamping elongated bodies of different diameters.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various clamps have been used for routing elongated bodies within, or retaining such bodies upon, for example, an appliance, as disclosed within Japanese Patent Public Disclosure No. 59-133886.
Ordinary or conventional clamps of the type described above and used for retaining an elongated body at an axially central portion are constructed such that the elongated body can be inserted in a radial direction into the clamp body and retained therein. A typical example of a clamp of this type comprises a clamp body having a bottom provided with a semicircular groove for admitting an elongated body in the radial direction and a pair of opposed side walls which are provided with engaging pieces which extend downwardly in any inclined manner from the upper ends of the side walls. The elongated body is inserted into the clamp body in such a manner as to urge the engaging pieces away from each other and is retained therein by means of the restored engaging pieces in cooperation with the semicircular groove.
However, the prior art clamps impose restrictions upon the diameter of the elongated bodies which can be accommodated therein. Specifically, elongated bodies having a large diameter cannot be inserted into the clamp body at all, whereas those of a small diameter are accommodated loosely within the clamp body and cannot be retained firmly within the clamp body.
Therefore, it has been necessary to or manufacture a plurality of different clamps capable of retaining elongated bodies of different diameters and to subsequently select among these clamps in accordance with the diameter or cross-sectional profile of the particular elongated bodies body to be accommodated or secured, the corresponding clamp for suitably retaining the same